OK...this weeks' color is gray. In truth I think the color is, "Cold" - because that's what I "see" when I look out the window (but cold isn't really a color now is it?) ----

Sorry it has been awhile since the last post - 5 track meets in 9 days and 17 hours on a school bus had me running (literally and metaphorically speaking) ---

This week we are on track to finish up Animal Farm - the vast majority of students are keeping up with no problem. They should have a very tidy or typed packet with a paragraph for each chapter explaining how the story relates to our Cycle of Power hand out, in addition to a character log.

We have a quiz on the Cycle of Power today (they have had ample time to read/study in class) --- We have spent a lot of time discussing the differences between a dictatorship and a democracy -- looked at Parade Magazine's "Top 10 Dictators" list that they compile every year - and finally my practicum student shared a presentation on her trip to Guatemala -- I think the kids have a new appreciation for the blessings of democracy! ----

Mr. Grow will be in our room briefly today to give a testing pep-talk ---- and we will follow with a refresher tutorial for the MSP either today or tomorrow. ----

Next week we will begin Shakespeare and after a brief look at Apartheid...move on to juvenile's in the justice sytem in Civics. Stay warm....see warm....be warm!!!!

Hello all....3rd quarter is behind us now - time for a strong finish! This week we have been finishing up our literature circles and discussion/work on our disabilities unit. My practicum student, Natalie Baydo, taught a lesson on the ADA (American Disabilities Act) on Monday that required the students to create a floor plan for a school per the legal guidelines for accessible buildings - lots of discussion and questions - made them think quite a lot about the ways in which they are "capable". We are also watching the movie I am Sam - also lots of opportunities for discussion. I showed a brief clip today on a young man named Patrick Hughes - quite inspirational if you want to Google him :) We will finish up the movie tomorrow - have our final discussion on the student's independent research and then assemble our bulliten board which will include sections of their lit circle packet and a place for students to pledge to omit the R word from their vocabulary - look up the r-word.org campaign on the Special Olympics web site. I will be out of the classroom for track and a writing curriculum day on Th. and Fri. - Mr. Harms will begin a brief unit in Civics on Foreign Policy. No homework for now :) Maybe later :( Hope you enjoyed the sunshine today!!!!

Hope everyone enjoyed their break - of course unless you made it out of the state it didn't feel much like Spring - but that means we still have something to look forward to! In regards to the classroom...we have now put Night of the Notables behind us. I have entered most of the grades for this project - but the final essay will be entered later this week. I will have all the blocks look at their grades on the SmartBoard and ask that they verify my entries before I enter their final grade for the quarter. As we move on with this week we will be finishing up our lit. circle and continuing our study of the Constitution. Up next will be the Cycle of Power - a study of dictatorships vs. democracies in additional to Animal Farm - and a Shakespeare performance by a traveling performance group from Seattle (more to come on this next week). The latter will hopefully get us primed for Midsummer Night's Dream as we come near the end of the school year! Keep thinking warm thoughts - hope you're all well - I'm battling my first cold of the year and hope I feel better soon instead of worse!

OK - the "end" is near....the end of Night of the Notables that is!!! On Monday - students will: Turn in -
* final typed essay with a reference page attached
* APA worksheets for each reference
* Timline poster (in a shape with a picture and the name of their notable with min.8 events)
Start -
* presentations using their "fill in the blank" worksheet as their guide - only notecards with brief notes are allowed! (see the rubric on the back of the packet)
* procession practice
* microphone speaking practice
* group practice for the evening questions
COSTUMES MUST BE READY BY 3/21 MONDAY - STUDENTS ARE TO ARRIVE BETWEEN 5:30 AND 5:45 - PLEASE MAKE SURE THEY EAT DINNER BEFORE THEY ARRIVE!!!!

In class we are continuing with our literature circles and the constitution.

Finally (as if we didn't have enough going on already) all the 8th graders will be taking a visit to PHS on Monday - this should help begin the process of thinking about the transition to highschool and the registration process that all will go through next week when the PHS counselors visit LMS and help all students register in our computer lab :)

IMPORTANT DATES!!!
Fri.. 3/4 - checked off their N of N questions
Today 3/7 - checked off their intro paragraphs for their essay
Wed. 3/9 - essay rough drafts due!!!
Monday 3/14 - Final typed essay and timeline posters due!!!! Presentations will start today and tomorrow depending on the schedule for visiting PHS
Monday 3/21 - "floating head" and quote OR business card due --- event tonight --- come in costume!!!!

We are continuing with the Constitution in class and our Literature Circles :)

Well...the students ended up with me instead of Mr. Harms today - the ELL training I was scheduled to attend was postponed until 3/8 since the presenter was snowed-in up in Freeman --- :( --- Actually worked well, since so many were absent for the Jazz festival on Thursday - I was able to check off research progress for Night of the Notables - nearly all have made excellent progress! Please check with your student to make sure they have at least 3 sources (one preferably a book) with a least 2 different types of sources.

The answers to their questions for the evening event are due on Friday of next week! We will have a computer lab work day on Tuesday which should help everyone finalize their research! I will be giving guidelines for the essay late next week or early the next - look for future due dates on this assignment!

Also in Civics - there is a quiz covering the ch. 4 section one questions and the Bill of Rights on Wednesday - if they know the "gist" of each of the first 10 amendments and the answers to the questions from ch. 4 - they should do quite well! I suggest flash cards :) ---

In English, the students have chosen their literature circle novels - all were able to be placed with their first or second choice --- please ask at home about their progress with these books - they should have some great thoughts and hopefully questions as well! ---

OK - enough thinking for the night :) Warm thoughts to all since it currently says we are at -9!!! BRRRR!!!! Enjoy your weekend! kw

Does anyone other than me believe that the start of the track season is more likely than a groundhog's shadow to cause 4, or 6 or 12 more weeks of winter! That being said, after this week, if you need to speak with me - before school, my 5th period prep or by email would be your best bet since I will be at the PHS track in the afternoon.

This week Mr. Harms will be teaching on Tuesday and Friday while I attend a required ELL workshop at the district office. The students will be working on an in-class small group project on the Bill of Rights - they should also be studying their ch. 4 questions in preparation for a quiz the first week of March (I'll post the exact date on Wednesday) ---

This week we will also start our literature circles on novels with themes that center around disabilities. Students have selected the books they would most like to read, and I have placed them into their groups. We will be reading these books in class due to a limited number of books - but some additional research on specific disabilities may be required.

Finally - Night of the Notables research should be ongoing --- this Thursday I will be checking sources and next week they will be expected to have completed their "fill in the blank" worksheet. Happy President's day :) Hope you enjoy the beautiful sunshine!!!! kw